Grammar: Four Sentences a Partner Cannot Approve
Kenji is writing a short speech about his grandmother for his English class. The teacher's instruction is: 'Write four sentences. Each one must use the grammar point in brackets. Check your sentences with a partner before you record the speech.' Kenji's draft is below.
(1) My grandmother lives in Kyoto since 1990. (2) She has a lot of old books, and she gave me many advice. (3) I visited her last summer, and I have stayed there for a week. (4) Because she was busy, so I helped her in the garden.
His partner reads the draft and says, 'I can understand all four sentences, but the grammar is wrong in every one.' Kenji wants to keep the meaning exactly the same. He has ten minutes before the recording starts.
1. Correct the four sentences and name the rule behind each correction.
Read the worked answer
My grandmother has lived in Kyoto since 1990. Since + a starting point (1990) requires the present perfect: the action started in the past and continues now. Simple present 'lives' cannot take since.
She has a lot of old books, and she gave me much advice. Advice is uncountable in English, so it takes much, not many. A countable-sounding alternative is 'she gave me a lot of advice'.
I visited her last summer, and I stayed there for a week. Last summer is a finished past time, so the second verb must also be simple past. Present perfect 'have stayed' cannot be used with a finished time expression here.
Because she was busy, I helped her in the garden. English uses either because or so, not both in one clause pair. The pattern 'Because ..., so ...' is a classic transfer error from Japanese.
Check: every correction keeps Kenji's meaning and changes only the form, which is what the partner's comment requires.
2. Kenji wants to add: 'When I arrived at her house, she cooked dinner.' His partner says 'was cooking' is better. Explain the difference between the two sentences, and say which one fits the speech.
Read the worked answer
'She cooked dinner' presents the cooking as a completed action. With when I arrived, it usually suggests the cooking happened at or after the arrival; perhaps she started cooking because he arrived.
'She was cooking dinner' presents the cooking as already in progress at the moment of arrival. The arrival is a short event that overlaps a longer background action.
Which fits: if Kenji wants to say that dinner was already being prepared when he got there, which is the more natural scene for a home visit, 'was cooking' is better. If he wants to say she cooked for him after he arrived, 'cooked' is correct.
Exam skill: both forms are grammatical, so the question is not 'which is right?' but 'which meaning do you need?' The surrounding sentence, not the grammar rule alone, decides.